We can trust in the Holy Warrior to save the world … probably.
Creative Staff:
Original Story: Tsukikage
Illustrations By: bob
Translation: Caleb DeMarais
What They Say:
Ten years have passed since the Demon Lord Kranos declared war on mankind. As the situation grows desperate, the Ruxe Kingdom summons a hero from another world to stand against this threat. Assigned by the Church to join the hero’s party, a battle-worn priest arrives to fulfill his obligations but is shocked to find that his companions are utterly inept! A mage who can only use fire magic, a swordswoman recently defected from her father’s fighting school, and a hero obsessed with women?! With an average level totaling just 15, there’s no way these novices are capable of taking down a demon lord! But a job’s a job, so it’s up to the man of God (who thankfully has power to spare) to support these buffoons from the shadows. With an extraordinary healer on their side, defeating their target will be a cinch! … Hopefully.
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The humanity started to sense a disturbance in the balance of the world twenty years ago when a menacing threat slowly began to rise in the demon lands, while its presence was slight at first its power slowly began to grow until it gave birth to an existence which became known as Demon Lord Kranos. Under his leadership his followers began to surge forward, conquering all who stood before them and securing more regions under his rule and while humans may outnumber them, these beings had powers and abilities unknown to them. They gathered other races to assist in this dominion and proceeded to destroy many kingdoms with seemingly nothing able to stand in their way even as several heroes attempted to make a name for themselves by facing this beast, but in the end none returned.
As time passed and humanity saw they were no match for this demonic disaster, the Kingdom of Ruxe concluded they had no choice after watching their closest ally decimated by this seemingly unstoppable army and asked the followers of the God of Order Supreme Deity Ahz Gried to create a miracle – summon the Holy Warrior from another world who could save everyone from this abominable beast. However after this secret arts ceremony was accomplished and the ones who would face Kranos were gathered the representative of the Church of Ahz Gried Ares Crown was not exactly enthusiastic by their assembled prowess of combative skills. In fact his outlook as to their chance of defeating the Demon Lord became ever less hopeful as the party of three introduced themselves, thinking to himself this whole meeting had to be a cruel joke.
The first to introduce himself was Naotsugu Toudou, a black haired black eyed boy who was still training with the sword and a novice at level fifteen – this was the Holy Warrior, one who had the potential to become the strongest person in the world and had divine protection from the Three Deities and Eight Spirt Kings, and while he did not look like a fighter which was expected of someone summoned from a peaceful world this was not what alarmed Ares, it was the other two members of the party. The second was a nervous looking blonde hair girl dressed in extravagant robes and carried a staff almost as tall as herself, with a noble bearing which is expected from being the second child of the Prince of Friedia and named herself Limis Al Friedia; although she claimed she had experience fighting monsters it was clear from her behavior she was still an amateur which was shyly confirmed when she stated her level was only ten even if her family had the reputation of being excellent mages. However it was the last person who made the biggest impression on Ares amongst the convened group, with his eyes never wandering too far away from her large chest which she tried to hide as she presented herself as Aria Rizas, a level twenty swordmaster and daughter to the Grand Swordmaster Norton from the Mixirion school who admitted she was not very skilled and apologized for her inability. This strange menagerie of under powered adventurers were supposed to save the world … and while Crown himself would serve as adviser and healing priest for the group his exuberance for their success did not seem very tangible, especially for people who appeared more uncertain of themselves than even Ares in their hopes of surviving another day.
In Summary:
From the very beginning of Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch (If You’ve Got a Ringer) the reader will build an initial impression of Ares Crown the narrator as being either a haughty braggart or callous guardian who thinks this journey is a waste of time, or a bit of both. I see this character as a mixture of both with a cynical view of the Holy Warrior’s success, which is made worse after he is rejected from the group for no apparent reason which is only revealed to the reader at the very end by writer Tsukikage-sensei. It is this unknown justification which becomes the principle grudge Ares has against Nao and his party and this attitude carries over in his speech as he relates to the audience what happens in the story – Ares holds nothing back as he constantly belittles these people who he thinks have no business in protecting the world from the Demon Lord and will tell anyone who will listen of his complaints, especially his later companion Amelia and superior Cardinal Creio. His constant whining is annoying and yet it is when he steps in as Nao and his friends get over their heads which make him a bit redeemable, allowing his level ninety-three power to settle any disagreements with monsters which they cannot handle in their journey.
While his hidden protection of Naotsugu and the group may offset his insensitive attitude, which is made worse when we are reminded it is his duty to protect them, it is the other side of his challenging personality which will make the reader question if he is worthy of the title Priest. Of course in our society when we think of people who serve a higher power it is established they are pious in their belief and thus restrictive as to what they can do in the public view, in other words they present a reserved persona to those who know of their occupation. However this is not the case for this follower of God of Order Supreme Deity Ahz Gried known as Ares Crown, in fact he is the complete opposite of someone who we think of as a person of the cloth, even teetering as being profane to the religion. Although we may not know much aside from what Tsukikage-sensei has told us of their teachings, one would assume they would hold their leaders to a standard of being respectful to others as to their divinity and yet this man shows none to either. In the initial meeting with Aria he could not take his eyes of her breasts and does the same to Amelia, even as they are blushing since this staring clearly makes them uncomfortable due to his lecherous ogling and he will not stop unless his attention is drawn elsewhere. And then we come to his constant swearing, Crown does not hold back in letting people know what he thinks and the most colorful manner would be his profanity in amplifying his anger, always bemoaning his thankless job in protecting someone who he would not mind seeing fail if not for the obvious consequences of allowing the Holy Warrior to die while training. Finally we come to the most grievous atrocity for someone who is supposed to serve a god – a lack of respect for his protector and believing Ahz Gried does not care for the world; if this is the case, then why does such a disbeliever still have the divine powers of Supreme Deity’s spells and fight for the God of Order as a priest to slay demons and other vicious creatures instead of becoming a mercenary, with the obvious answer being Ares needs the support of the Church to fund his adventurers even when he could make a decent living fighting for himself. For all of these faults one wonders how a man such as him is allowed to continue in the Church of Ahz Gried with the most sincere answer being his connections and reputation as a top Crusader … in other words they cannot afford to lose his talent and thus tolerate his corrosive attitude in so much as Creio considers him a friend and worthy of the respect he might never have for someone of this temperament.
Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch (If You’ve Got a Ringer) on the surface feels like you are reading a story of an overpowered veteran guiding novices through a tedious dungeon grind, only resulting in a tale which becomes bitter after they tell him they no longer need his help. While you can reject the book with this attitude and due to Ares’ callous temperament no one will blame such a prompt dismissal, the tale still has some memorable comedic moments all due to his frustrations and how this jaded priest must cope with his unwanted job. But as we learn of Nao’s true motivations in kicking out this powerful Crusader and wishing to continue on his own, hopefully this occasionally charming title will transform into something worthy of captivating the audience and grow out of its superficial tendencies in the very near future.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13 & Up
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: August 21, 2018
MSRP: $14.00
